During installation of Plastic Vertical Drains (PVD) large forces can occur that rupture the drain or filter fabric. To determine these forces laboratory and field tests are executed whereby the forces are measured by strain gages during installation of the drains. The tests showed that under circumstances these forces could exceed the requirements mentioned in certain norms. The forces were caused by the fact that high performance PVD installation rigs were used in combination with large depths and hard top layers. Also other circumstances can influence the forces in drains during installation. This paper describes all the factors that influence the forces in PVD.